Heat shmeat. Talk fall planting, protection of Heights trees

After we all thumbed our nose at the heat on White Linen Night (and I do mean all. Have you seen the pictures? Holy moley! That was a redonkulous crowd!), the heat seems to be retaliating and high temperatures are sapping us all.

Though really, if you live in Houston, you deal with it. And one way to deal with it is to enjoy the shade of the urban tree canopy, which in Houston is among the most complete of any major U.S. city. However, it can always be better, which brings us to something that can be done now AND in the future. Once again, the Houston Heights Association will host “Living in Tandem With Trees”, the annual Heights Urban Forestry Day at the HEIGHTS Fire Station, 107 West 12th, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 21.

Now of course, that is two days before the official beginning of autumn, which is cruelly this time around the latest in the year it usually gets, Sept. 23. The HHA, however, is giving you an option of something you can do right this second, in the (hopefully) air-cooled comfort in front of your own computer screen. You can adopt your own 3-5 gallon native tree and plants by e-mailing urbanforest@houstoheights.org with your full name and the address where your trees will be planted.

There will be 25 varieties of natives trees and plants available from Trees for Houston, and the HHA will distribute up to 400 of them to good homes. (Don’t be modest. You know your home qualifies.) You can also pick them up at Urban Forestry Day at the Fire Station. Just let them know. For the type of trees and plants available, you can also e-mail urbanforest@houstoheights.org.

Also at the event, you’ll learn about local champion trees vs. big trees, and how to register and save them both. Also, the Texas Forest Service will be debuting the Heights Tree Trail App for iPhone on that day, which will take you through the neighborhood’s biggest and oldest trees.